And with a switch to England now imminent, we thought it would be worth a look at what those in the Italian game have been saying about the young striker since his debut as a 15 year-old at Serie C1 Lumezzane.

"Yesterday I talked to Mario and told him what to do to get back into the squad, I won't repeat this in front of reporters.

"I am ten years older than him and have good experience. Javier Zanetti, Marco Materazzi and Francesco Toldo in our dressing room are older and these people try to talk to him. We know what to do, every day we talk about this to him.

"He is important, but he must recognise the words of those who can advise him."

"I hope he does not make my mistakes. He's 18 years of age, he can't do everything at this age. He needs room to make errors. But he also needs people to steer him onto the right path. Age will make him better.

"Balotelli is not like me. When I was his age, I had not won anything. 80% of my problems I brought onto myself."

"You see what's in the head of Balotelli, he is like a child. I too am a father of three children, you cannot take him by the neck. He suffered at the hands of the fans, the kid, but I also between 2-3pm suffered years ago and had problems with the fans. He reacted wrong, but there is still time and I'm confident. It is better to be diplomatic ..."

"Moratti and Mourinho were wrong with how they handled the lad. This approach is not good for his growth. Balotelli would not act like this with me. He will now leave because his agent Raiola is not well liked in Milan, as shown by the departures of Ibrahimovic and Maxwell."

"Here, the environment is different, I think a player with this type of character, in my opinion, would do better here than Italy. It is difficult to find a player so young with these qualities, even in England it is hard to find players at this level.

"He is young, has much to learn, but I believe in him, he has all the qualities to become a good player. And there is nothing wrong with calling someone (for the World Cup) who does not hold a place in his club team In any case, every time I have seen Balotelli play, he has done well."

Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach

"I do not know Balotelli, so I cannot give him any kind of advice. I would just say find a way to be a calm professional."